Bundle receiving and stripping mechanism for wire draw blocks



1959 P. E. SCHREINER 2,910,171

BUNDLE RECEIVING AND STRIPPING MECHANISM FOR WIRE DRAW BLOCKS Filed June 30, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 25 1I I6 1 L L "nllllll ATTORNEYS BUNDLE RECEIVING AND STRIPPING MECHANISM P. E. SCHREINER 2,910,171

FOR WIRE DRAW BLOCKS Filed June 30, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 l '11 4 T-L. :r I.

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BUNDLE RECEIVING AND STRIPPING MECHANISM FOR WIRE DRAW BLOCKS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 30, 1955 INVENTOR.

PAUL E. SCHREINER BY 4M, fi Mf'M ATTORNEYS I H Oct. 27, 1959 P. E. SCHREINER 2,910,171

BUNDLE RECEIVING AND STRIPPING MECHANISM FOR WIRE DRAW BLOCKS Filed June 30, 1955 ((INVENTOR. PAUL E. SCHREINER ATTORNEYS Oct. 27, 1959 P. E. SCHREINER 2,910,171 BUNDLE RECEIVING AND STRIPPING MECHANISM FOR WIRE DRAW BLOCKS Filed June 30, 1955 v 5 Shee ts-Sheet 5 T mull/III INVENTOR.

PAUL E. SCHREINER BY M, 141,, whiz! ATTORNEYS United States BUNDLE RECEKVING AND STPING MECH- ANISM FOR WEE DRAW BLOCKS Paul E. Schreiner, Kokomo, Ind, assignor to Continental Steel Corporation, Kokomo, Ind., a corporation of Indiana 7 Application June 30, 1955, Serial No. 519,159

10 Claims. (Cl. 205-20) The present invention relates to improvements in wiredrawing mechanisms, and more particularly to an iminterference from convolutions of wire formed on the block, successive convolutions are progressively forced atent f Q upwardly off the top of the block so as continuously to j clear thefriction drum for more wire,.the convolutions being collected in the form of a bundle above the block.

At the beginning of the drawing of a bundle of wire by means of a rotary draw block of the kind just referred to, it is desirable, even with some relatively small gages of wire, to apply positive pulling force to the leading end of the wire until an adequate number of convolutions or turns have been wrapped around the friction drum to create frictional forces that are alone sufficient to pull the Wire. This initial application of positive pulling force to the leading end of the wire is essential in the drawing of wire of relatively large gages, such as wire having a diameter in the neighborhood of from .250 inch to .625 inch and larger, because of the'large forces required to move the wire through a reducing dier Furthermore, the leading end of heavy gage wire must also be anchored rotatably with respect to the block during the entire time the bundle is being drawn so as to maintain the wire in a tightly 'wound condition about the drum and thereby produce the degree of friction required to prevent slippage of thedrum within the convolutions of wire thereon.

This two-fold problem of applying positive pulling force upon the leading end of the wire during the initial phase of the drawing of a bundle of wire, and also anchoring the leading end of the wire rotatably with respect to the block'for so long as the drawing operation continues, is believed never to have been solved in a completely satisfactory manner prior to the present invention. The normal practice heretofore has been to secure the leading end of the wire to the block itself adjacent its periphery by a relatively short length of chain or the like. When the drawing of the bundle was begun, the positive pulling force required to be applied to the leading end of the wire during the initial wrapping of the wire about the friction drum of the draw block was applied by the chain. Thereafter, the chain, one end of which remained attached to the block," also served to anchor the leading end of the wire rotatably with respect to the block to prevent subsequent slippage of the con- 2,910,171 PatentedOct; '27, 1959 vol'utions on the drum, the chain and successive convolutions of wire being progressively forced upwardly off of the friction drum to become a part of a bundle of progressively increasing height collected above the block. Normally this bundle was collected about vertical pins extending upwardly from the block, and when a full bundle had been collected, rotation of the block was stopped, the wire leading to the block was cut and the chainwas released from the leading end of the wire in the bundle, whereupon the bundle was lifted from the pins.

It will readily be appreciated that in the prior practice just described, the length of chain-or the like by which the leading end of the wire was attached to the block the bundles of wire produced.

pounds. Larger bundles would have requiredthe use of a chain or otherpulling device of greater length to permit the formation of a bundle of greater height, and this was prohibited because the use'of a longer pulling mechanism interfered with proper functioning of the draw block and proper collection of the bundle above the draw block. I

Modern industrial needs and economy make it highly desirable to drawmuch jlarger continuous bundles of heavy gage wire. than has I previously been possible, and one of the principalobjects of the present invention is to provide mechanism by which this may easily be done. While the maximum size of bundles of large gagevwire drawn with prior mechanisms .was largely limited to approximately 600 pounds, as previously stated, the apparatu s of the present invention permits the continuous drawing of bundles oflarge gage wire up to 2400 pounds and more, the height of the bundle, and thus its weight,

being in no way limited by the need for'anchoring the leading end of the wire rotatably with respect to the draw block during the drawing of the bundle. In the present apparatus the leading end of the wire is anchored to the draw block during the winding of the initial convolutions of wire upon the friction drum of the draw' wirefrom the block to the frame terminates all direct gressively as the height of the bundle gradually increases about the frame so that the leading end of the wire in the bundle-remains anchored at the upper end of the bundle regardless of thebundles height. The anchoring of the leading end of the wire of the bundle therefore in no way limits the height of the bundle and has no tendency to cause the leading end of the wire to be pulled downwardly into the body of the bundle as the bundle grows in height.- This permits very large bundles 3 of heavy gage wire to be drawn smoothly and continuously.

Another important and broad object of the present invention is to provide in combination with a rotary draw block, a bundle receiving and stripping mechanism removably mountable upon the block and having the characteristics and advantages just stated, the stripping mechanism being provided with anchoring means for the leading end of the wire automatically raised in response to increased growth in the height of i the bundle of wire collected about the frame of the mechanism. Another important object of the invention is to provide such a stripping mechanism wherein the anchoring means for the leading end of the wire is rotatably interlocked with the draw block during the winding of the initial convolutions of wire of the bundle, and is thereupon auto matically disengaged from the block and progressively raised upon the frame of the stripping mechanism as the height of the bundle increases.

These and numerous other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment thereof, taken .with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the apparatus of the present invention in its wire bundle receiving position on a power driven rotary draw block, the parts of the apparatus being shown in the condition which they occupy very shortly after the drawing of a bundle of wire has begun during which time the initial convolutions of wire are wrapped about the friction drum portion of the draw block;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. I, but showing the apparatus turned approximately45 from the position which it occupies in Fig. 1, and showing the condition of the apparatus after a sizeable portion of a bundle of drawn wire has been received thereon, a wire anchoring ring assembly being shown riding upon the top of the bundle, while in Fig. 1 the wire anchoring ring assembly is shown resting on top of the draw block;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view, on an enlarged scale, showing the apparatus resting in its wire receiving position upon the draw block, certain parts of the apparatus having been cut away for clearness of illustration, and the wire pulling or anchoring ring assembly having been removed from the apparatus in order to reveal more of the details of the interior of the apparatus;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the lower portion of the apparatus resting on the draw block, the

' view being taken substantially along the line 4-4 in Fig.

3 and the wire pulling or anchoring ring assembly being shown in its normal installed position about the upright shell of the apparatus above the draw block;

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the lower portion of the apparatus and the draw block, the view being taken substantially along the line '5--5 in Fig. 4 and showing the position of the parts before wire' is received thereon;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the rotary draw block;

*Fig. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view thereof;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary cut away elevational view of the central portion of the apparatus, showing the relationship of the interior parts thereof after the apparatus has been lifted from the draw block to raise the bundle of wire and strip the convolutions of wire from the block, and after the apparatus has been tripped to its collapsed condition to permit the bundle of wire to be dropped;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the lower portion of the apparatus in its collapsed condition, the apparatus having been turned substantially 45 from the position shown in Fig. 8 and being shown in the relative position which the apparatus may occupy with respect to the upper end portion of a wire carrier or receiver which may be employed to cause the apparatus-to be tripped to drop the bundle of wire onto the carrier, the anchor ring assembly having been removed in this view for clearness of illustration, and the uppermost end of the carrier being cut awayfor the same reason; and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view of the upper end of the carrier, showing certain portions of the tripping mechanism of the apparatus of the present invention in contact with the upper extremity of the carrier and in position wherein they are about to trip the apparatus to cause the bundle to drop onto the carrier, certain portions of the apparatus including its feet and inner legs and the anchor ring assembly being eliminated from this view for clearness of illustration.

In the drawings the numeral 15 designates, generally, a wire draw block rotatable about a vertical axis for pulling a wire 16 through a reducing die or the like (not shown) and for coiling the wire into convolutions 17 to form a bundle of the wire, the bundle being received about the apparatus as best shown in Fig. 2. The block is mounted upon an upright vertical shaft 18 (Fig. 5) which has an upper reduced portion 19 received in an axial opening 29 in the body of the block, the opening 20 having a keyway 21 provided in its wall (Fig. 6) for receiving suitable key 22 formed or mounted on the side of the upper portion 19 of the shaft 18. The lower part of the exterior of the block is provided with a radially extending rim 23, the upper surface 24 of which slopes slightly upwardly inwardly from the peripheral edge of'the rim in conical fashion. This slightly upwardly sloping surface merges with the lower end of an upwardly extending friction drum 25 which has a slight inward taper thereon, the friction drum being thereby slightly larger at its bottom than at its top.

i The operation of rotary draw blocks of this general type is well known. Broadly speaking, the draw block receives the wire 16 at the lower end of the friction drum 25 as shown in Fig. 1. After the first convolution of wire has been tightly wrapped around the drum at this lowermost location, the oncoming wire 16, because of the slope of the upper surface 24 of the rim, acts as a wedge to force the first convolution upwardly. This wedging action continuously occurs as further wire is received upon the friction drum, the oncoming wire always wedging itself onto the friction drum between the surface 24 of the rim 23 and the lowermost convolution of wire on the drum, thereby causing the preceding convolutions of wire to be forced progressively upwardly off of the friction drum to form a bundle of wire of progressively increasing height above the draw block.

downwardly through the flange 27a and are threaded into openings 270 provided in the top of the block adjacent its. center (Figs. 6 and 7). The uppermost end 28 of the post may be tapered as shown in Fig. 3 and the post serves, along with other structure, to support the bundle receiving and stripping mechanism of the present invention upon the rotary draw block 15.

As best seen in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the body of the block encompassed by the friction drum 25 is provided with four downwardly extending wells located concentrically about the axis of the block. Each of these wells has a pair of downwardly. sloping convergent side walls 29 and 30 and the back portion of each well is provided with downwardly sloping converging walls 31 and 32 which curve downwardly and radially outwardly with respect to the aXis of the block. Between these two walls31 and the back f each well is completed by a somewhat spherical triangular shaped wall '33'which also is curved downwardly and radially outwardly with respect to the axis of the draw block. The tops of the wells are open and the front walls 34 thereof are each provided with a downwardly extending slot 35 which extends radially through the body of the draw block and opens in the exterior surface thereof. The rear wall 33 of each well curves downwardly and outwardly to blend smoothly with the bottom 36 of the well. The sloping side walls 29 and 30 of each well, on the other hand, terminate along horizontal edges 37 above the bottom of the well (Fig. 7) and from these edges there are vertical walls 38 that extend downwardly to the bottom 36, thereby forming a slot in the bottommost portion of each well aligned with the vertical open slot 35 in the forward wall thereof. This slot in the bottom of each well extends outwardly into the upper surface 24 of the rim 23 of the block, the numeral 39 being applied to this extension of the slot in the drawings (Figs. 5, 6 and 7).

The frame assembly for receiving the bundle of wire progressively formed by the block, and for ultimately removing that bundle and stripping the remaining convolutions of wire from the draw block, includes a hollow cylindrical barrel 40 adapted to be loosely received upon the upstanding post 27. A stationary lower yoke 41 is welded or otherwise secured upon the lowermost end of the barrel, as best shown in Fig. 5, and is provided with four radially extending arms 42 (Fig. 4), the outer ends of which are bifurcated to provide a vertical slot 43 in each. Inwardly from each of these slots each radially projecting arm 42 is provided with an opening through which a vertically disposed threaded bolt 44 extends. These bolts are vertically adjustably secured within the openings therefor by nuts 45, and the lower end of each of the bolts 44 has an eye 46 formed thereon for rotatably receiving a pin 47 that extends through and pivotally receives a radially inwardly directed bifurcated portion 48 of a foot designated generally by the numeral 49.

Each of the feet 49 may have the configuration best shown in Fig. 5. The main upper body portion 50 of each foot, on the forward side of the foot, is also bifurcated for pivotally receiving the lower end of an inner leg 51 by means, of a pivot pin 52, the bifurcation of this main upper body portion of the feet being an outwardly directed continuation of the bifurcation of the rear portion 48 of the foot. All of the parts of each foot may be cast as a single piece or, if desired, each foot may be built up by welding or otherwise securing together suitably shaped plates. In any even, the portions 48 and 50 of the feet are integrally joined and are provided with a downwardly and radially outwardly curved body portion 53, each having a thickness somewhat less than the width of the slots 35 in the wall of the friction drum portion 25 of the draw block 15. The back edge 54 of each foot 49 curves downwardly and outwardly and blends with a bottom edge 55 of the foot in a curve corresponding to the curvature of the back wall 33 and the bottom 36 of each of the wells in the draw block. Each of the feet is also provided with anoutwardly extending toe 56 formed integrally upon the lower portion of the body of the foot.

As seen in Fig. 5, when the bundle collecting and stripping apparatus of the present invention is located on the draw block, the four feet of the apparatus rest upon the bottoms of the wells and the toe 56, on each foot projects outwardly through a corresponding slot 35 and into the slot extension 39 formed in the upper surface 24 of the radially directed flange of the draw block, the upper surface of each toe being disposed slightly below the surface 24 (Fig. so as not to interfere with the winding of the wire 16 onto the friction drum 25 of the block. V

The inner legs 51 of the structure extend upwardly and freelythrou gh the respective slots 43in the outer ends of the radially projecting arms 42 of the lower yoke 41, and the upper ends of the legs are respectively received in the bifurcated ends 57 of four radially vprojecting arms of an upperflyoke' member desig ated generally by the numeral 58, the upper ends of the legs 51 being pivotally retained within the bifurcated ends 57 by pivot pins 59. This upper yoke58 is, slidably disposedabout thebarrel 40 and is freely movably vertically thereon, the yoke being provided with. a downwardly extending collar 60 which steadies the yoke on the barrel and serves to prevent binding ther'ebetween during vertical movement of the yoke. As indicated in the drawings, the yoke 58 encompasses the barrel 40 and is provided on opposite sides of the barrel with a pair of longitudinally extending slots61 extending vertically through the yoke. A short stub shaft 62 extends transversely of each of the slots and a roller 63 is rotatably mounted upon each of the stub shafts within the respective slots 61.

Below the yoke 58 a pair of U-shaped brackets 64 are welded orotherwise secured to the opposite sides of the barrel 40in upright position. A pivot pin 65 is provided in each of the brackets 64 and each pin rotatably carries an L-shaped bell crank 66 having an upwardly extending arm 66a and a laterally extending arm 66b. The uppermost ends of the arms 66a extend respectively into the slots 61. of the yoke 58 and are provided with curved surfaces 67 thereon adapted to engage the rollers 63 and thereby support the yoke 58 in a raised position, this position being shown in Fig. 3. The laterally extending arms 66b of the two L-shaped bell cranks 66 are cross joined .by a bracing bar 68 that may be welded or otherwise secured thereto. The outer ends of the arms 66b also contain a transverse pivot pin 69 common to both arms which pivotally joins the arms, re-

spectively, to the upper ends of a pair of diagonally and then downwardly extending trip rods 70, the lower ends of which are welded 'or otherwise secured to a tripping collar designated generally by the numeral 71.' This tripping collar is slidably disposed around the lower end of the barrel 40 above the lower yoke 41. In the erected condition of the tripping apparatus shown in Figs. 3 and 5, this tripping collar 71 rests upon the upper surface of the stationary lower yoke 41, portions of the tripping yoke being recessed, as at 72 (Fig. 4), so as to avoid engagement with the nuts 45 as well as the bolts 44 which pivotally receive the upper rear portions of the four feet 49. Four equally spaced, downwardly directed skirts or flanges 73 are formed on the periphery of the trip collar 71 and extend dovmwardly past the outer edges of the four sides of the lower stationary yoke 41 in the spaces between the radially extending arms 42 thereof. Each of the downwardly extending skirts 73 has a radially extending tripping block 74 welded or otherwise formed thereon as best seen in Figs. 3 and 4.

From the foregoing description, it will be understood that upward pressure on the underside of any one of the tripping blocks 74 will raise the trip collar 71 about the barrel 40 and thereby cause the L-shaped bell cranks 66 to be pivoted about the pins 65 in a counter-clockwise direction (as viewed in Fig. 3) so as to cause the upper surfaces 67 of the arms 66a thereof to disengage the rollers 63 on the movable upper yoke 58. As will be more fully explained below, this action trips the mechanism and causes the feet 49 to collapse to the position shown in Fig. 9 after the, bundle receiving mechanism has been lifted from the draw block 15.

A plurality of horizontal plates 75 (Fig. 4) are welded upon the upper surfaces of the radially extending arms 42 of the lower yoke 41, these plates being arranged to form a square, with the outwardly extending arms 42 of the lower yoke occupying the four cornersof the square. The ends of the plates 75 that are secured to each of the four arms 42 of the lower yoke are provided with a space between their respective extremities and the adjacent upstanding inner legs 51 so as notv to interfere with movement of the inner legs, and the opposite ends of the plates are terminated short of the trippingblocks 74 on the tripping collar 71 so as to permit freedom of movement of this collar. An upwardly extending boxlike shellis secured adjacent its lower end to the outer edges of the plates 75 as by welding or the like, this box-like shell'being designated generally in the drawings by the numeral 76. The shell may be of built-up, welded construction and in the present embodiment of the invention it comprises four upstanding side plates 77 joined at their adjacent longitudinal edges by four outwardly rounded vertically extending guides or guide rails 78. The four side plates 77 of the shell may be provided with a plurality of circular openings 79 therein in order toreduce the weight of theshell and to permit visual inspection of the tripping mechanism previously described and located Within the shell. The vertical guide rails 78 at the four corners of the shell preferably extend from the upper to the lowermost extremities of the shell, the four side walls 77 at the lowermost end of the shell being provided with the edge configuration best shown in Fig. 3. In this configuration the lowermost edge of each wall 77, between the lower ends of adjacent guide rails 78, extends diagonally upwardly along convergent lines from the lower ends of the guide rails toward the center of the wall, the lower edge of each wall at the approximate vertical center line thereof being provided with an upwardly directed socket like slot 79 which is located outwardly of the outer end of the adjacent tripping block 75 (Figs..l, 3 and 10).

The barrel 40 of the structure within the shell 76 has a tubular extension 80 welded or otherwise secured to its upper end. This extension 80 extends upwardly from the barrel 40 and has asubstantially square horizontal plate 81 (Fig. 3) welded or otherwise secured thereto. The outer peripheral edges or this plate are welded to the inner surfaces of the side plates 77 of the box-like shell 76 adjacent their upper ends, thereby securing the shell '76 at its upper end to the internal post-like structure formed by the barrel 40 and its extension 80. The extension 84) may also have welded to its upper end a hoisting loop 82 within which a crane hook may easily be received, the upper edges of the respective side plates 77 of the shell 76 being shaped as shown in Fig. 3 so as not to interfere with the crane hook.

The guide rails 78 located at the four corners of the box-like shell 76 slidably receive a puller or anchor ring assembly to which the leading end of the wire 16 is attached when drawing of the wire is begun. This ring assembly comprises a circular ring member 83 preferably having an inner diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the upper end of the friction drum portion of the draw block 15 so that the ring member may be received about the upper end of the friction drum in the position shown in Fig. 5. The ring member has four horizontal, radially inwardly extending plates 84 welded thereon at equiangular positions corresponding to the four corners of the box-like shell structure 76 and the locations of the four vertical guide rails 78 thereon. The innermost ends of the inwardly extending plates 84 are concave in shape and are provided with vertically arranged concavo-convexo friction flanges 85 which loosely engage and are adapted to ride vertically on the outer convex surfaces of the four guide rails '78 at the corners of the shell 76, it accordingly being understood that the ring assembly may be slidably raised vertically along the guide rails 78 on the shell 76 but can not be rotated about the shell.

During the winding of the initial convolutions of wire upon the friction drum 25 of the draw block, the ring assembly is adapted to rest upon the top of the draw block as shown in Fig. 5, with the under surfaces of the plates 84 resting upon the upper rim of the friction drum. The underside of each of the plates 84 is provided with a downwardly directed radially extending fin-like lug 86 that is disposed in the plane of'the adjacent foot 49 and is received in the upper end of the corresponding slot 35 in the draw block when the ring assembly is in the posi tion just described. Thus, when the ring assembly is in its lowermost position resting upon the draw block, the presence of the downwardly extending lugs 86 in the slots 35 latches the ring assembly on the draw block and prevents relative rotation between the two.

The puller or anchor ring assembly has a clevis mounting member 87 (Fig. 4) welded upon its outer periphery, with a clevis 88 pivotally secured thereto as by a clevis pin 89. A chain 90 has one of its ends interlinked with the clevis 88 and has fixed upon its other end a wiregripping member 91 of any well known suitable construction for receiving and gripping the leading end of the wire 16. If desired, the ring member 83 of the ring assembly may be provided with an upwardly offset section 83a therein so as not to interfere with the wire gripping member 91 when the chain 90 is closely engaged with the draw block in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the box-like shell 76 and all of its internal structure, including the feet 49, may be lifted bodily as a unit off of the draw block 15 by means of the hoist loop 82. When this is done in the absence of a bundle of wire on the device the ring assembly just described is prevented from sliding off of the lower ends of the vertical guide rails 78 of the shell by means of a plurality of brackets 92 welded upon the inner surfaces of the side plates 77 of the shell at their lower edges (Figs. 3, 4 and 5). These brackets 92 are provided with outwardly extending stop arms 93 which are adapted to engage the undersides of the plates 84 of the puller or anchor ring assembly on opposite sides of the concave inner ends thereof and they act as stops to limit the downward movement of the ring assembly with respect to the shell structure 76.

The shell assembly 76 and its internal structure is normally lowered onto the draw block 15 when the assembly is in its collapsed condition illustrated by Figs. 8 and 9. In so lowering the assembly, the open lower end of the barrel 40 is first guided onto the upper end 28 of the upstanding post 27, whereupon further orientation of the assembly with respect to the block takes place substantially automatically as the assembly is lowered further. As the assembly descends, the downwardly extending body portion 53 and the toes 56 of the feet 49 come into contact with the sloping sidewalls 29 or 30 of the wells in the block. Sliding contact of the feet upon these sloping side walls acts to turn the entire assembly when necessary and to guide the feet downwardly into proper position in the wells. As the assembly approaches its seated position on the block, the curved lower and rear edges 55 and 54, respectively, of the feet engage the downwardly curved rear walls 33 of the wells, causing the feet progressively to be pivoted outwardly and upwardly about the pins 47 and causing the toes 56 of the feet to extend through the slots 35 of the block and into the slot extensions 39 provided in the upper surface 24 of the radial- 1y extending flange 23 on the lower portion of the block. As the final seating of the feet in the wells takes place, the undersides of the radially projecting arms 42 of the lower yoke 41 come to rest on upwardly projecting supports 94 (Fig. 5) formed on the upper main body portions 50 of the feet, the downward movement of the assembly thereupon coming to a halt with the assembly supported by the feet in nested position in the block and in condition to be rotated with the block about its vertical axis. At the same time the assembly comes into nested position on the block, the downwardly directed lugs 86 on the undersides of the inwardly directed plates 84 on the ring assembly engage and are seated in the upper open ends of the slots 35 in the block, thereby locking the puller or anchor ring assembly to the block and preventing any relative rotatable motion between the two.

During the outward pivotation of the feet about the pins 47 as the assembly is lowered upon the draw block, the legs 51, which interlink the feet with the upper yoke 58, are also carried upwardly, thereby slidably raising the yoke 58 about the upper portion of the barrel 40. the yoke approaches its uppermost position, the rollers 63 in the slots 61 of the yoke clear the side edges 66c ofthe upwardly extending arms 66a of the bell cranks 66, thereby permitting the bell cranks to pivot about the pins'65 in a clockwise direction (as viewed in Figs. 3 and 8) to bring the upper ends of the arm 66a into supporting .posi tion beneath the rollers 63. Prior to this clockwise motion of the bell cranks 66 the engagement of the'rollers 63 with the edges 66c of the upstanding arms 66a retains the trip collar 71 in its raised or tripped position shown in Fig. 9. However, as soon as the rollers 63 have cleared the edges 660 of the bell cranks during the upward movement of'the yoke 58, the weight of the trip collar 71, together with the weight of its downwardly extending flanges 73 and the tripping blocks 74, as well as that of the upstanding connecting arms 70, causes the bell cranks to be pivoted to bring the upper ends there of into supporting position beneath the rollers 63.

With the frame settled in position on the block and with the feet 49 supporting the entire assembly in an upright position on the block, the assembly is prepared to receive wire thereon. Before the actual wire drawing operation is begun, the leading end of the wire 16 is connected to the wire gripping device 91 at the free end of the chain 90. Rotative power is thereupon applied to the drive shaft 18 to rotate the block and the mechanism carried thereby in the direction of the arrow 95 in Fig. 4, the wire thereupon being tightly wrapped around the friction drum portion 25 of the draw block (as illustrated in Fig. 'l').'.: During this initial phase of the drawing operation the'leading' end of the wire is anchored to the block itself by'means of the wire gripping means 91, the chain 90 and the ring assembly, so as to prevent slippage of the friction drum portion of the block within the convolutions of wire wound thereon, the presence of the downwardly directed lugs 86 in the slots 35 of the block preventing relative rotary movement between the ring assembly and the block. As previously indicated, the wire is always fed onto the lowermost portion of the friction drum, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The oncoming wire cooperates with the slightly upwardly tapered surface 24 of the radially directed flange of the block so as to be wedged onto the friction drum below the lowermost convolution of wire thereon. This wedging action creates an upward thrust causing the convolutions of wire on the block to be progressively forced upwardly off the upper end of the friction dnum where they are collected about the shell 76 in a bundle of progressively increasing height. The upward discharge of the convolutions of wire from the upper end of the block progressively lifts the ring assembly upwardly, and to this end the ring assembly, at locations oppositeeach of its inwardly directed plates 84, is provided with a plurality of outwardly extending handlelike loops 96 Which ride upon the uppermost convolutions of wire. In this way the ring assembly is progressively carried upwardly about the shell 76 by the bundle of wire that is progressively built by the discharge of convolutions of wire from the upper end of the draw block. The initial lifting of the ring assembly by the upward discharge of the convolutions of wire causes the downwardly directed lugs 86 on the lower side of the ring assembly to be withdrawn from the upper ends of the slots 35 in the draw block, thereby disengaging the ring assembly from the block. However, this withdrawal of the lugs 86 from the slots of the draw block does not thereupon permit relative rotation of the ring assembly about the shell 76, for the engagement of the concave friction flanges at the inner ends of the plates 84 of the ring assembly with the convexouter surfaces of the guide rails 78 at the four corners of the shell, prevents such rotation.

Thus, it will be understood that the puller or anchor ring assembly is in a rotatably interlocked condition with the draw block during the beginning of the formationof a bundle of wire, during which time the tendency for the friction drum to slip within the first convolutions of wire wound thereon is the greatest and during which time the greatest forces are applied to the ring. Subsequently, when a sufiicient number'of convolutions of wwire'have been wound upon the block to overcome" the tendency of the block to slip within the convolutions, the ring assembly is lifted upwardly out of engagement with the block, whereupon the engagement between the friction flanges on the inner ends of theinwardly directed plates 84 and the vertical guide rails 78, functions to drive the ring and prevent rotary motion of the ring with respect to the block and to the shell. The leading end "of the wire at the upper end of the bundle thus continues to be anchored by the ring assembly. while the ring assembly is progressively moved, upwardly about the shell as the size of the bundle received from the draw block is, increased. The shell 76 is of course driven rotatably by rotation of the block itself, the feet 49 serving as the interdrive connection between the two. In order to reduce any tendency the rotative forces between the shell and the block might have to bend the feet or to twist the pivot pins 47 about the shell 76 in Fig. 2.

upon which the feet are mounted, a foot contacting block 120 (Figs. 5 and 9) may be welded or otherwise secured Within each of the guide rails 78 at its lowermost end. These blocks do not interfere in any way with the pivotal movement of the feet but are adapted to engage the leading side surfaces of the feet during rotation of the block and serve to transmit rotational forces from the feet to the shell 76.

Only a portion of a bundle of wire is shown disposed It will be understood, however, that a much larger bundle may be drawn with the present apparatus, the height of the bundle in practice being limited only by the height of the shell.

. When a bundle of desired size has been collected about the shell 76 in themanner described above, rotation of the block is discontinued and the wire 16 leading thereto is cut. The entire wire receiving assembly with the bundle thereon is thereupon lifted from the block by means of the hoisting loop 82. As the assembly is raised with respect to the block, the outwardly extending toes 56 of the feet 49 strip the residual convolutions of wire from the friction drum portion 25 of the block, the feet and the outwardly projecting toes thereon assuming the obligation of supporting the bundle of wire as the assembly is lifted. It will be noted that as the assembly is lifted from the block, collapse of the feet 49 is prevented by the upwardly extending arms 66a of the bell cranks which are in sup porting engagement with the rollers 63 of the upper yoke 58. These bell cranks thereby retain the upper yoke in its upper position and consequently maintain the feet in their outwardly projecting position beneath the bundle of wire.

The bundle of wire about the shell 76 may be dropped, upon collapse of the feet, onto any suitable bundle receiving device. One such wire receiving device or carrier comprises a base 97 (Fig. 9) having thereon four upstanding legs 98, 99, 100 and 101 constructed of heavy pipe or the like. Each of the legs at its top has an inturned elbow 102 thereon and below these elbows there may be a pair of reinforcing cross members 103 and 104 joined respectively at their opposite ends to the diagonally opposite legs 99 and 100, and 98 and 101, the maximum transverse dimension between the legs of the carrier being substantially less than the inner diameter of the bundle of wire about the shell 76. The shell assembly with the bundle of wire thereon is carried by the hoisting loop 82 to a position directly above the bundle receiving device or carrier, whereupon the assembly is lowered so that the undersides of the legs 49 pass downwardly between the adjacent legs of the carrier and the lower upwardly converging edges of the side plates 77 of the shell 76 contact the inturned elbows 102 of the carrier. Due to the converging slopes of the lower edges of the side plates of the shell 76, the engagement thereof with the inturnedelbows 102 of the bundle receiving device or carrier automatically causes the shell and the remainder of its assembly to be turned, when required, so as to be properly oriented and centered upon the top of the carrier as the assembly is lowered thereon. Lowering of the assembly onto the carrier causes the inturned elbows 102 to be received in the upwardly directed arcuate slots 79 in the lower edges of the side plates 77 of the shell, whereupon the tripping blocks 74 on the trip collar 71 come into contact with the inturned elbows 102 as illustrated in Fig. 10. Final lowering of the assembly upon the carrier causes upward pressure on one or all of these tripping blocks sufiicient to raise the trip collar 71 about the barrel 40, thereby causing the bell cranks 66 to be pivoted in a counter-clockwise direction (as viewed in Figs. 3 and 8) to carry the upper ends of the upstanding arms 66a out of supporting engagement with the roller '63 of the upper yoke 58. This permits the yoke 58 to drop downwardly in the direction of the arrows 105 in Fig. 8 to the position shown therein and, simultaneously therewith, to cause the feet 49 to be pivoted inwardly and downwardly about the pins 47 to the collapsed position shown in Fig. 9. This inward pivotation of the feet, in effect, collapses the feet and permits the bundle of wire about the shell 76 to be dropped freely downwardly about the legs of the wire carrier and onto the base 97 thereof in the direction of the arrow 106 in Fig. 9, thereby freeing the shell 76 of the bundle of wire and leaving the internal parts within the shell in their collapsed condition ready to 'bemoved back and lowered again onto the draw block in the manner previously described. As the bundle is dropped from the shell 76, the ring assembly slides downwardly along the guide rails 78 at the four corners of the shell and comes into contact with the outwardly directed arms 93 of the brackets 92 which prevent the ring assembly from sliding downwardly off the lower end of the shell. With the bundle of wire deposited on the bundle receiver or carrier, the wire gripping member 91 at the end of the chain 90 is released from the leading end of the wire at the upper end of the bundle and is thereupon ready for attachment to the leading end of the next bundle when the shell assembly is again placed upon the draw block 15.

It will be noted that regardless of the height of the bundle collected on the present apparatus, the leading end of the wire remains attached to the puller or anchor ring assembly throughout the drawing of the bundle so that the convolutions around the friction drum portion of the draw block will remain tightly wrapped thereabout to prevent slippage. During the initial winding of convolutions of wire about the friction drum the ring assembly is interlocked with the draw block itself and is thereby riven by the block forcefully to pull the wire. As the convolutions of wire are built up on the friction drum and progressively forced upwardly off the top of the block, the uppermost convolutions lift the ring assembly upwardly out of engagement with the block, whereupon the ring is driven rotatably by the box-like shell and the vertical guides 78 at its four corners. Thus, the driving forces applied to the ring are transferred from the block to the shell as soon as the convolutions of wire are raised sufiiciently to lift the ring assembly out of contact with the block. The ring assembly, which continues to anchor the leading end of the wire rotatably with respect to the block, rides on the upper end of the bundle and is thus progressively raised about the shell as the bundle increasesin height. The leading end of the wire is therefore maintained at the upper end of the bundle regardless of its height, and the anchoring of the leading end of the wire by means of the vertically movable ring assembly in no way limits the height of the bundle that may be collected. Furthermore, because the ring assembly always rides the upper end of the bundle, there is no tendency for the leading end of the wire to be drawn downwardly inside the bundle. On the contrary, the leading end of the wire remains at the upper end of the bundle where the wire gripping device 91may be quickly and conveniently released therefrom when the bundle has been dropped from the shell 76 onto the bundle receiver or carrier shown in Figs. 9 and 10.

Among the various advantages of the present invention, in addition to those previously mentioned, is that a continuous bundle of any reasonable desired size may be drawn and collected upon the present apparatus, thereby making it easy and simple to supply a customer with bundles of continuous wire of substantially any weight the customer may desire or be able to handle. Furthermore, it will be noted that wire may be drawn and collected into large size bundles by means of the present apparatus without imparting to the wire any longitudinal twist, the absence of such twist being highly desirable in connection with certain further processing steps through which the wire may subsequently be put.

The foregoing description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be implied therefrom, for it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous variations and changes may be made in the present apparatus without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a power driven wire draw block rotatable about a vertical axis and having an upstanding friction drum portion thereon for'pulling wire under tension, wherein the wire is progressively received on the lower end of said drum and wrapped thereabout and convolutions of said wire are forced progressively upwardly off the upper end of said drum and said block, mechanism for receiving said convolutions of wire from said draw block and for anchoring the leading end of said wire to prevent rotary slippage of said wire on said friction drum portion of said block, comprising: an upwardly extending bundle receiving and stripping frame removably supported on said block and about the lower end of which the convolutions of said wire are progressively received from said block to form a bundle of wire of progressively increasing height, outwardly projecting feet at the lower end of said frame for supporting said frame in upright position on said draw block and for transmitting rotative power from said draw block to said frame, said out-wardly projecting feet normally underlying the lowermost convolution of wire on said draw block, anchor means mounted on said frame and constantly interlocked therewith for vertical movement only with respect to said frame, said anchor means being movable on said frame between a lower position adjacent the upper end of said draw block and a position elevated with respect thereto, means for securing the leading end of said wire to said anchor means, means interlocking said anchor means with said draw block when said anchor means is in said lower position, said draw block thereby rotatably driving said anchor means to prevent slippage of said wire on said friction drum when said anchor means is in said lower position, means for disengaging said interlocking means and progressively moving said anchor means upwardly on said frame from said lower position toward said elevated position as the height of said bundle increases, said anchor means being rotatably driven by said frame and preventing slippage of said Wire on said friction drum when said interlocking means is disengaged, and means on said frame by which said frame with said 13 bundle thereon may be lifted with respect to said block, said outwardly projecting feet being so constructed and arranged as to strip the convolutions of said wire from said block and to support said bundle on said frame when said frame is lifted from said block. I 2. The combination set forth in claim 1 including means for retracting said projecting feet to permit said bundle to drop fromsaid frame when said frame with said bundle thereon has been lifted from said draw block.

3. In combination with a power driven wire draw block rotatable about a vertical axis and having an upstanding friction drum portion thereon for pulling wire under tension, wherein the wire is progressively received on the lower end of said drum and wrapped thereabout and convolutions of said wire are forced progressively upwardly off the upper end of said drum and said block, mechanism for receiving said convolutions of wire from said draw block and for anchoring the leading end of said Wire to prevent rotary slippage of said wire on said friction drum portion of said block, comprising: an upwardly extending bundle receiving and stripping frame removably supported on said block and about the lower end of which the convolutions of said wire are progressively received from said block to form a bundle of wire of progressively increasing height, radially projecting feet at the lower end of said frame for supporting said frame in upright position on said draw block and for transmitting rotative power from said draw block to said frame, said radially projecting feet residingin upwardly directed slots provided in said draw block and normally underlying the lowermost convolutions of wire on said draw block, an anchor ring assembly disposed about said frame and slidably mounted thereon for vertical movement only with respect to said frame and said draw block, said ring assembly being movable on said frame between a lower position wherein said ring assembly rests on said draw block and an elevated position above said block, means for securing the leading end of said wire to said ring assembly, latch means on said ring assembly engaging said slots in said block when said ring assembly is in said lower position, thereby rotatably locking said ring assembly to said block and causing said ring assembly to be rotatably driven by said block to prevent slippage of said wire on said friction drum when said ring assembly is in said lower position, means on said ring assembly overlying and adapted to rest upon the upper end of said bundle for progressively lifting said ring assembly about said frame and withdrawing said latch means from said slots in said block as the height of said bundle increases, said frame rotatably driving said ring assembly to prevent slippage of said wire on said friction drum when said latch means have been withdrawn from said slots, and means on said frame by which said frame with said bundle thereon may be lifted with respect to said block, said radially projecting feet being so constructed and arranged as to strip the convolutions of said wire from said block and to support said bundle on said frame when said frame is lifted from said block.

4. The combination set forth in claim 3 including means for retracting said projecting feet to permit said bundle to drop from said frame when said frame with said bundle thereon has been lifted from said draw block.

5. The combination set forth in claim 3, including means for retracting said projecting feet to permit said bundle of wire to slide downwardly and to drop off of the lower end of said frame when said frame with said bundle thereon has been lifted from said draw block, and stop means on the lower end of said frame engaged by said ring assembly to prevent said ring assembly from dropping from said frame when said bundle is dropped.

6. In combination with a power driven wire draw block rotatable about an axis and having an axially extending friction drum portion thereon for pulling wire under tension, wherein the wire is progressively received on said friction drum portion and wrapped thereabout during and the maximum transverse dimension of said frame being substantially less than the diameter of said drum portion of said block so that the convolutions of wire dis-- charged from said block are loosely and progressively received about said frame to form a bundle thereabout of progressively increasing axial length, anchor means slidably mounted on said frame for relative'movement thereon in an axial direction only, said anchor means being constantly interlocked with said frame to prevent relative rotation therebetween and said anchor means being movable axially upon said frame between a first position ad jacent said discharge end of said draw block and a second position remotely located with respect to said block, means for securing the leading end of said wire to said anchor means, means directly interlocking said anchor means with said draw block when said anchor means is in said first position so as to prevent relative rotation therebetween, whereby said anchor means is interlocked both with said block and with said frame when in said first position and is interlocked only with said frame when out of saidfirst position, means for disengaging the interlocking means between said anchor means and said block and for progressively moving said anchor means from said first position toward 'said second position as the axial length of said bundle increases, means for moving said frame in an axial direction away from said discharge end of said block so as to separate said frame and said block, and means on said frame for stripping convolutions of said wire from said friction drum portion of said block and for supporting the bundle of Wire on said frame during said last mentioned movement of said frame.

7. The combination set forth in claim 6, wherein said frame is provided with a plurality of guide surfaces extending longitudinally in the axial direction, and wherein said anchor means comprises a ring assembly encompassing said frame and guided axially by said guide surfaces.

8. In combination with a power driven wire draw block rotatable about a vertical axis and having an upstanding friction drum portion thereon for pulling wire under tension, wherein the wire is progressively received on the lower end of said drum and wrapped thereabout and convolutions of said wire are forced progressively upwardly off the upper end of said drum and said block, and a removable bundle stripper including a plurality of upright bundle receiving members defining a cylinder concentric With and smaller in diameter than the friction drum portion of the draw block, the bundle stripper being restrained against rotation with respect to the draw block when arranged in bundle receiving position on the draw block and being readily removable upwardly from said draw block, anchor means for gripping the leading end of a wire being drawn, said anchor means including an annular member, means connecting said annular member to said upright members, said connecting means permitting vertical movement of said annular member with respect to said upright members and preventing rotation of said annular member about a vertical axis with respect to said upright members, and means connecting said annular member directly to the draw block only when said annular member is near the bottom of said upright members and closely adjacent to the draw block, said second-men'- tioned connecting means permitting vertical movement of 15 said annular member with respect to the draw block and preventing rotation of said annular member about a vertical axis with respect to the draw block when said annular member is near the bottom of said upright members.

9. The anchor means of claim 8 wherein said annular member encircles said vertical members;

10. The anchor means of claim 8 including a plurality of outwardly extending members connected to said annular member for engaging and riding on the upper convolutions of a wire bundle on said bundle stripper.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Horton Feb. 2, 1909 Richards Nov. 29, 1938 McIlvried 'Nov. 10, 1953 Schreiner Mar. 26, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Nov. 15, 1944 

